The Prints, Photography and Multiples auction has been an extremely enjoyable sale to put together.  We started to curate the sale just after the close of the International Art auction in June and one of the early consignments was Brice Marden’s Ten Days Portfolio (lot 27). The eight etchings and aquatints in this portfolio were inspired by Marden’s travels in Greece.  Often described as a minimalist, these have the same characteristics of his larger works: rectangular formats and a subdued palette, only here on a more intimate level. The provenance is excellent, having been purchased in Toronto and remaining in the same private collection.

Our Senior International Art Specialist had the privilege of spending the afternoon with Christo and Jeanne-Claude in their studio in New York just after The Gates Project in Central Park had been realized in 2005. You realize the amount of work that goes into Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s projects, as some of the projects are not realized for several years.  When we got an email with images of the lithograph, Arc de Triompe Wrapped (A Project for Paris), we were very excited about having this work consigned. This is from the publisher’s edition of 20. Arc de Triompe Wrapped (A Project for Paris) was issued in an edition of 150 (lot 44). It is even more meaningful as the project is finally being realized in Paris.  From September 18 to October 3^rd the Arc De Triomphe will be wrapped.  Here is the link for the live stream on their website.

There is a fantastic selection of photography in the sale, including the iconic portrait of Winston Churchill by Yosuf Karsh (lot 64), an interesting series by Yuri Dojc titled the Last Folio (lot 7), which documents the preserved history in a school in Slovakia before World War II, as well as wonderful portraits by Arnold Newman of Pablo Picasso (lot 20), Georgia O’Keefe (lot 19) and Max Ernst (lot 18). The Max Ernst portrait is remarkable. The story behind the work, is that Ernst was drawing a lot of birds at this point in his career and when he saw the portrait, he was very excited, as just beside his face the plumes of smoke suggest the image of a bird.

There are three very special lots that begin the auction, introducing our partnership with Casey House, a hospital in Toronto which specializes in HIV/AIDS care. American photographer Cara Barer starts the auction with a striking work entitled, Heart (lot 1). Characteristic of her manipulation of books into sculptural objects, this work attracted lots of interest as the previews commenced. Vancouver artist Damian Moppett’s playful image of pieces of Lego and a balloon constructs an interesting juxtaposition between the hard and soft qualities of these objects (lot 2). David Burdeny’s striking image, Sweepers, West Lake, Hangzhou China continues his exploration of Asia and its landscape (lot 3).

We are extremely pleased to partner with Casey House in offering these lots. All proceeds from their sale will benefit Casey House Ontario’s HIV/Aids Hospital. We hope there will be many more donations of fine art that we will be able to offer through our sales. As well, we very much look forward to hosting the Art with Heart Preview for Casey House this year and broadcasting the auction live from the Cowley Abbott gallery on Tuesday, October 19^th.